


more than this

by soccermommykuvira



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Canon Compliant, Clueless Mako, Feelings, Fluff and Angst, Hurt No Comfort, M/M, Married!Hasook, Pro-Bending, Shitty Morals, but not in the way you might be thinking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:08:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26986456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soccermommykuvira/pseuds/soccermommykuvira
Summary: Mako isn't sure what it means to be in love with someone. Much less what it means to be in love with someone who probably doesn't love him in the way he deserves.or, Mako and Hasook deserve to be happy together but unfortunately, that just isn't in their cards.
Relationships: Hasook/Mako (Avatar)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	more than this

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this entire fic while listening to barely friends by drama on repeat for the entire day. you can thank this edit i made for the brainrot: https://twitter.com/kuvirascumslut/status/1315676995808886784?s=20
> 
> hope you guys enjoy! i'll be updating the next chapter(s) sometimes over the course of this coming week :)

Mako wasn’t sure what it meant to be in love with someone. 

To be fair, he didn’t really have anything to go off of, having grown up on the streets of Republic City with his brother. It’s not like any of the members of the Triple Threat Triads had been open to discussing much more with him than his role in new plans to expand their turf.

It was an odd thing to be pondering whilst in the middle of a training session, sure. But it was something that had been bothering Mako for a while now.

He moved to a bench to take a short break, towelling the sweat from his brow with a small rag, his thoughts drifted back to when he and Hasook had first met.

_The man had happened to catch the tail end of a back alley scuffle between Mako and some urchin from a rival gang. Mako couldn’t even remember what the fight had been about but he’d completely dusted the floor with the cocky no-name. When he turned around, adrenaline still coursing through him, the sight of the broody-looking stranger watching him from the entrance of the alley immediately sent him back on the offense. He shot a burst of fire in his direction without a second thought and was amazed to see the man deflect it with a bit of water he’d apparently bent from a hip flask._

_Seeing that Mako had been startled, the waterbender took a careful, measured step backwards, slowly raising his hands to show he had no ill intentions. Mako didn’t lower his own hands—they’d risen almost of their own accord, ready to summon a burst of fire if he needed it—but he didn’t move to attack, either._

_“Easy,” the man said. “I don’t want to start anything. ‘Specially not after seeing what you did to that poor guy over there.” He gave a small nod in direction of the figure still lying prone on the ground behind the firebender, chuckling nervously. Mako didn’t so much as twitch in the direction he nodded, amber-coloured eyes still narrowed in suspicion. He continued. “You’re a real good fighter. I mean, I only caught the last bit, sure. But you made that takedown look effortless. You ever thought about taking up pro-bending?”_

_Mako frowned, sharp eyebrows furrowing in mild disbelief. He hadn’t thought about that, actually. But why would he? It’s not like he’d ever be able to find someone willing to train him. At least, not for free. And it was hard enough scraping enough money together to make sure Bolin was kept fed without worrying about wasting money on lessons. No, pro-bending was just not something he had the luxury of dreaming about._

_What he told the man before him, however, was a simple, “No.”_

_A thoughtful look overtook the waterbender’s face, as if there was much to consider from that single word. “Hm. Alright then,” he finally said. “Well, my team’s looking for a new firebender. If you ever want to look into it, feel free to stop by the Arena. I’m there late most nights—just ask for Hasook.”_

_With that, he gave a small smile before turning on his heel and striding out of Mako’s line of sight. Mako stared into the empty space for a moment, hands slowly lowering down to his sides. “Hasook,” he whispered, almost absentmindedly. Mako made the decision then that perhaps he’d been wrong about pro-bending._

_It’d taken over a week for Mako to finally gather the courage to enter the Pro-Bending Arena. He’d stopped outside the doors more times than he’d like to admit, gazing up at the shining building before him. A few times, he’d been so lost in thought that the doors had opened up directly into him as people left._

_He finally made up his mind to find Hasook the day after a particularly gruelling night of guard duty for some stolen machinery that Lightning Bolt Zolt was trying to resell. Mako hadn’t asked too many questions but he thought he’d heard the name Sato thrown around a few times. (He’d done his best to convince himself afterwards that stealing from one of his role models wasn’t_ that _bad of a thing to be involved in.)_

_Bolin had wanted to tag along so the two of them made their way across the city to the Arena. The younger brother’s eyes lit up immediately upon catching sight of the shining dome, tugging Mako’s sleeve excitedly as he jabbered on about his favourite pro-benders and their statistics and— “Hey, Mako, d’you think we’ll be able to meet any of them? I heard the Wolfbats sign things for fans sometimes and I may or may not have brought something just in case that rumour happens to be true.” A short pause. “Ok, well, maybe two somethings—one for me and one for Pabu.” At the sound of his name, the fire ferret popped his head out from beneath Bolin’s collar, chittering just as excitedly as his owner._

_Mako rolled his eyes but secretly, he was glad to have been able to bring a smile to his brother’s face, even if indirectly._

_“I honestly don’t know Bo,” he answered. “But I’m sure there will be someone you can ask once we get inside.”_

_Bolin seemed to accept this answer. It was hard to tell though because he wasn’t exactly paying attention anymore, instead gazing in awe at the large, gilded doors that had risen before them seemingly out of nowhere._ Hm, _Mako thought to himself._ Guess that’ll be sooner than I thought.

_Unable to put it off any longer, they walked inside. He held the door for Bolin as the younger bender bounded inside, eyes practically bugging out of his head as he took it all in. Mako chuckled and made his way over to the ticket booth, where a bored looking attendant sat reading a magazine._

_“Excuse me, do you know where I can find Hasook?” The attendant slowly raised their eyes to look at Mako, blinking in disinterest._

_“Who?”_

_“. . . Hasook.” Mako worried for a split second if he’d misremembered the waterbender’s name. “He trains here, he told me to ask for him if I decided to. . .” He trailed off, realising he was dangerously close to making a fool of himself. It didn’t really matter though because the attendant was already looking back down at their magazine._

_“You should check the training areas,” they said. “Since you said Hasook_ trains _here.” Mako gave a huff of annoyance._

_“And how am I supposed to know where the training areas are?” he asked indignantly. In response, the attendant simply flung a pointed finger towards a large map of the Arena hanging on a nearby wall._

_The firebender tossed a dirty look at the attendant’s bent head before going over to look at the map. There were several training areas marked on the map so, after seeing that Bolin was immersed in an animated conversation with what looked to be another Wolfbats fan, decided he might as well start looking by himself._

_The first few he came upon were empty. The walk gave Mako enough time to wonder, once again, if he was making the right decision. Before he really had a chance to talk himself out of it, he heard the sound of bending from the next training area in his path. He soon found himself standing at the entrance, watching the group of three benders inside with a look of awe._

_He’d never seen anyone bend like this before. The movements reminded him of the fights the Triads sometimes organised—the ones that allowed only non-bending moves. Even the waterbender. Maybe it should have seemed odd, seeing a waterbender throw punches instead of using the fluid motions more commonly associated with the element. But something about the way each bender threw forth their element like it was a punch seemed satisfying to Mako._

_He decided he liked it._

_He watched from the entrance for several minutes before the group inside stopped to take a break. When they moved to take their helmets off, he recognised the waterbender as the man who’d spoken to him in the alley._

_“Hasook!” he called out, making his way into the training area. The man looked up in surprise for a moment before grinning widely._

_“Took ya long enough!” he responded, not unkindly. He gestured for Mako to come closer and turned towards his teammates. “This is. . .uh. . .” He glanced back at Mako. “Hm, this is awkward. I don’t know your name.”_

_“Mako.”_

_“Right. Mako.” Hasook clapped a hand onto the firebender’s shoulder, turning back to the two others. “Heng,”—he nodded at the earthbender—”Naoki,”—he nodded at the firebender—”meet Mako, the one I was telling you about. The one from the alley.”_

_Naoki gave Mako an appraising stare, looking him up and down for several long moments before nodding. “Let’s see what he’s got.”_

_The next two hours or so were spent getting him fitted for protective gear and testing his abilities. By the end of it, he was covered in sweat and he knew he’d be sore in ways he didn’t even want to think about the next morning. Naoki seemed satisfied with his performance and took that as her signal to head home for the night. As the rest of them were packing their gear up, Hasook explained to Mako that she was moving to Ba Sing Se in less than a month to be with her partner. She’d been putting off the move because she refused to leave the team without an adequate firebender but the distance had really been taking a toll on their relationship, and so here they were._

_“Wait, so were you out looking for people to recruit that day you came across me?” Mako found it hardly practical to simply roam the streets looking for pro-bending material. Hasook must have, too, because he laughed._

_“Oh, no,” he said. “That was pure chance. I’d actually been on my way to pick up some cake ingredients. My kid wants an ube-flavoured cake but she doesn’t want the cake to be purple. My wife’s been driving herself crazy trying to figure out a way to make that happen.” Hasook smiled to himself, getting lost in thought for a brief moment._

_Mako took that opportunity to wonder why he’d felt his stomach drop when Hasook mentioned his family. He didn’t have long to ponder, however, because Heng chose that moment to ask if they wanted to grab some noodles before heading home, snapping both benders out of their thoughts._

_They gathered up the rest of their things and made their way towards the entrance, where they found Bolin grilling the attendant about the season’s schedule and which teams were playing which. At the mention of noodles, however, his attention quickly shifted and he happily followed the trio out the door. (As much as the attendant had irritated Mako earlier, even he agreed that they could use a break from Bolin's enthusiasm for pro-bending lineups.)_

_They spent the rest of the night laughing over noodles at Narook’s and exchanging stories to get to know one another. Bolin and Heng hit it off almost immediately, bonding over Pabu (“Wait, you have a fire ferret?? I love fire ferrets! I even convinced Naoki and Hasook to let me name the team after them!) and their mutual love for launching bricks into things. It couldn’t have gone more smoothly if Mako had planned it all out in his logbook himself._

He was pulled from his reverie by the sound of footsteps entering the training area. He turned his head, eyes flicking over to look at the entrance only to see Hasook walk in. He pulled his duffle bag from his shoulders, heading straight for the bench the firebender currently occupied.

 _Perfect timing,_ Mako thought drily.

The waterbender shot him a lopsided grin as he approached. “Mako! Fancy meeting you here.” Mako couldn’t help but smile, in spite of himself.

“You’re so corny, Hasook.”

“Oh, but that’s what you love so much about me,” the other man replied, batting his eyelashes flirtatiously. The firebender gave a snort, throwing his towel into Hasook’s face.

“Get outta here, you clown.” But even as he said those words, he couldn’t ignore the butterflies that had cropped up in his stomach. He turned his face away and reached underneath the bench to grab his own bag, He hoped Hasook wouldn’t notice the blush creeping towards his ears as he rummaged through it.

The younger firebender wasn’t much for romance, to be quite honest. But something about Hasook always got to him. Maybe it was his laidback, easygoing nature. Or maybe it was just his “dashingly good looks” and “roguish charm”, as the waterbender liked to call it. _Probably a bit of both,_ Mako thought, eyes wandering over to Hasook to take another glance at the aforementioned good looks. It wasn’t long before his mind began to wander, as well.

_Months had passed since that first night at Narook’s. He and Hasook had bonded quickly . After finding out that Mako and Bolin were living on the streets after leaving the Triads, the waterbender worked out an arrangement with Toza, a former pro-bender who managed a gym. The brothers would be allowed to live in the Arena and train with the Fire Ferrets, in exchange for helping Toza with odd jobs._

_Mako found himself spending longer and longer hours in the training areas with Hasook, eager to learn and craving the easy companionship he offered. To tell the truth, the firebender had never really had a friend. Outside of Bolin, of course. But he didn’t count because he was also Mako’s little brother._

_The firebender hung on to his every word, trying his best to absorb everything he could about the waterbender. Time seemed to move so quickly that he didn’t even realise what was happening until he looked over at the Hasook one day as he laughed and it hit him._

_All those hours at the Arena, the late night noodle runs, the brief moments when they caught one another’s eyes after Bolin or Heng said something particularly goofy._

_He’d gone and fallen for him._

_Mako wasn’t sure what to do with this newfound knowledge; he’d never had the opportunity to become close enough with someone to develop more than a schoolyard crush. What was he supposed to say to Hasook about this? Was he even supposed to say anything at all?_

That would be a stupid idea, _he thought._ He’s got a wife. And a kid! And it’s not like he would even reciprocate the feelings.

_He didn’t allow himself to entertain the idea, even though his heart leapt at the thought of Hasook feeling the same way. Mako did his best to continue on as though he’d never even noticed a change in his own feelings. Unfortunately for him, he was not as good at doing that as he’d hoped and the waterbender quickly noticed something was off._

_“Alright,” he said, taking his helmet off. “That’s the third time you’ve dodged the wrong way in the past ten minutes. Something’s clearly on your mind.” He made as though to move closer to the firebender, reaching a hand out. Mako immediately turned away, realising a split second too late that he’d moved too quickly. Still, he tried to play it off smoothly._

_“Nothing,” he said as nonchalantly as possible, tugging his helmet off and wiping the sweat from his brow._

_“. . .”_

_“_ Nothing. _I swear.”_

_“Mako, we both know that’s a lie. What’s up?”_

_The firebender said nothing, hoping that Hasook would grow bored of the silence and simply drop it. However, when he risked a glance over at him, Mako found the waterbender still staring at him, one raised eyebrow just barely visible beneath the messy fringe of hair covering his forehead. Mako sighed, running a hand through his hair and weighing his options._

If I tell him, it might make things awkward. _He barely suppressed a shudder at the thought._ If I don’t, my performance is probably just going to get worse. I don’t want the team to suffer. Ha! Does it even matter? It’ll suffer either wa—

_“Mako.”_

_He jumped, having momentarily forgotten Hasook was still there. Mako glanced back over at him, swallowing hard. “Yeah?”_

_“You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”_

_Mako averted his eyes. “Are you sure about that?” Hasook frowned._

_“Of course,” he said, reaching out to lay a hand on the firebender’s shoulder. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Silence. Hasook could see the muscles working in Mako’s jaw as he deliberated. “You don’t have to tell me if you really don’t want to.”_

_“I like you.”_

_Hasook paused, mouth slightly open. “Uh. . .”_

_“You don’t have to say anything,” said Mako, shrugging the other man’s hand from his shoulder. “I’ll go pack my stuff—I don’t think we’re going to be getting much more training done today.” He turned to walk away and had taken several steps before Hasook found his voice again._

_“Wait!” He cleared his throat. “I mean, hold on a second. We need to talk about this.”_

_Mako laughed derisively. “Do we?”_

_“Uh,_ yeah? _” Hasook replied, incredulous. “You can’t just drop that and walk away.” the younger man opened his mouth to speak but he cut him off. “No, seriously. I mean, I’ve been expecting you to say something about it for weeks now but still.”_

 _“You’ve been_ what? _” Mako squawked. He thought he’d been hiding it well but now he couldn’t stop himself from wondering how many other people had noticed. “Why on earth didn’t you say anything?!”_

_“Hey, calm down!” The waterbender held up his hands, eyes wide. “I just assumed you knew I knew. I mean, we’ve been flirting back and forth for months, Mako. I just thought you wanted to make the first move.” Mako opened his mouth but all that came out was a short bark of laughter. He sank down to sit on the ground in disbelief, lost in his thoughts._

_At least, until he looked up at Hasook and another burst of laughter erupted from him. He wasn’t sure why he was laughing. Maybe it was from relief; maybe he was just losing it. Whatever it was, it quickly caught hold of the waterbender, too. Hysterical laughter enveloped the two of them until they both lay on the ground, tears in their eyes and stitches in their sides as it finally subsided._

_They were both quiet for a moment, sprawled out on their backs as they caught their breath. Mako turned his head from where he lay to look at Hasook. The waterbender had his eyes closed, a lazy grin on his face. He must have felt the stare because he popped open an eye to peer back at his admirer. A faint blush rose to Mako’s cheeks at having been caught staring. He looked up towards the ceiling._ Spirits, why is my mouth so dry all of a sudden, _he thought, swallowing hard. The sound seemed deafening to him in the silence. He hoped Hasook hadn’t noticed._

_No such luck._

_“Hey, Mako,” the waterbender said teasingly. “You okay?”_

_Mako’s voice was raspy when he tried to speak. “Yeah, I’m,”—he stopped to clear his throat—”I’m fine.” He continued to stare at the ceiling as though it offered some formerly unknown bending technique._

_“Hey, Mako?”_

_“. . . Yeah?”_

_“Do you wanna kiss me?”_

_“. . . Yeah.”_

**Author's Note:**

> ooooo cliffhanger o-o  
> lol the next chapter, if i'm estimating correctly, is about a third of the way done. i just decided to cut it off here and divide it up because the fic was becoming monstrously long. also, i know i have it marked that this fic is only going to be two chapters but it might end up being three.
> 
> comments are appreciated but not at all required (though, if you see typos or other mistakes, please let me know so i can fix them asap!) thanks for reading <3


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